Venturist/Flickr Creative Commons
Ah, roadside attractions. They seem to be the last of the old-school carnival hucksters and snake oil shows. Flying a little loose with the truth in a highly entertaining way all to get bodies through the door. I remember visiting the 400 Pound Gopher somewhere in Kansas back in 1998, and it was 400 pounds all right. Of concrete. And then there is the classic, “Come See the Man Eating Chicken!” With a title like that what can you do? You stop, pay your dollar, walk into the room, and there’s some guy at a table eating fried chicken.
So how many of y’all have seen the signs advertising for “The Thing” on I-10? It seems like they start just west of El Paso, and if you’re headed east out of CA on “the 10,” I want to say the billboards start before you get to Buckeye, AZ. The Thing has got to be the best hyped “roadside attraction” (read: tourist trap) in America. I’ve seen some amazing signs on my travels, and remember the Burma Shave billboards, but these folks are tenacious! So if you’d like to visit an old-school tourist trap, this is the one to see. It’s just south of I-10 in between Willcox and Benson right near Texas Canyon, in Dragoon, AZ.
Entry to the “exhibit” is $2 for adults, slightly less for the kiddos. And they have some Old West stuff on display, a 1937 Rolls Royce they claim belonged to Hitler, and then… dah, dah, DAH! You finally get to see The Thing! What is it? Well I’m not going to spoil the fun and suspense, so go see it yourself. Suffice to say, it’s only $2 folks. Also, before you hit the trail out into that dusty, dry, and empty portion of Interstate 10, please be sure to swing by our website for all your parts and accessories!